A passenger secures his bike to the front before boarding the Highland bus at the San Bernardino Transit Center on Friday, March 26, 2020. Agencies are trying to protect drivers by requiring all passengers to wear masks. Omnitrans will further reduce service on Monday, April 13, due to schools, businesses and offices closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. There have been sharp declines in bus ridership, due to the coronavirus outbreak, in Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angels and Orange counties. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Many transit agencies in Southern California are seeing the number of novel coronavirus cases among employees creep upward, heightening anxiety among bus operators and their families that they could be exposed.

In Riverside County, where a bus driver contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, and another is being tested, a driver is concerned that not enough is being done to protect these frontline workers.

A 60-year-old grandmother and driver for Empire Transportation Inc., a subcontractor for Riverside Transit Authority, said in an interview on Wednesday, April 8, that she and others were supposed to be allowed to opt-out of work. But the driver said she was told she would have to work, even after routes were reduced.

She decided to leave her job without any paid time off, despite the fact that she has a mortgage and car payments. She said the company indicated it would not be supportive of her unemployment claim, saying she refused work.

In an interview from her home Wednesday, she said she left a job she loved for 15 years to protect herself from exposure to the virus from passengers who cough and sneeze as they walk on and off the bus through the front door.

“My life is worth it. If I have to find another job I will. I want to be around to see my grandkids grow up,” said the veteran bus driver who operated a route in Hemet. She asked that her name not be used out of concern she would face retaliation on her unemployment claim or not get her old job back once the pandemic is over.

Opting out of work for older drivers deemed more vulnerable to the virus is done on a case-by-case decision between the driver and his or her supervisor at Empire, said Brad Weaver, a spokesman for RTA.

Any driver at or over 65 years of age working directly for RTA has the option of not working and that is the same for its contractors, he said. RTA has 20 drivers over age 65. He wasn’t sure how many have taken the paid time off.

As of Tuesday, all RTA passengers must wear a mask, Weaver said. “If they do not have a mask on we won’t permit them to ride,” he said. Los Angeles County’s transit agency issued the same decree.

Not all drivers have masks, however, as they are still in short supply, Weaver said. Yet, the RTA is requiring all drivers to wear face coverings. Drivers also have been given disinfectant wipes, and all passengers must board through the rear doors of the large buses to keep a safe distance from the driver, Weaver said.

For smaller buses like the one operated by the Empire driver in Hemet, there is no rear door for passengers to use. She said there is essentially no way to keep social distancing on these vehicles and recommends the service be shut down.

Weaver said the driver of the smaller buses now have permission to step out of the bus before passengers get on board.

Concern for bus drivers heightened when 50-year-old bus driver Jason Hargrove from Detroit complained in a viral video about a passenger who coughed on him without covering her mouth. After saying in the video “he felt violated,” he emphasized the virus was a real danger to him and fellow bus drivers. He died 11 days later of complications from COVID-19, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) announced on April 2.

The video raised concerns among the nation’s transit workers. Some smaller agencies in the South Bay have canceled all service, saying people should just stay home, while most continue on reduced schedules. Montebello Transit suspended all bus service as of April 6, switching to Dial-A-Ride vans on a limited basis. Carson’s buses were taken off the street on March 28.

RTA is operating on a Sunday schedule, and ridership is down by about 65%, Weaver said.

He said the agency is doing everything it can to protect bus drivers from exposure. “We know that this is a high-risk group and these drivers are family to us. We want them to be safe,” he said.

A lone traveler on the Metro Red Line subway in downtown LA Thursday, March 26, 2020. On April 7, LA Metro recommended all transit riders wear masks. As part of the city’s “Safer at Home” program, all venues and dine-in restaurants and unnecessary businesses have been closed leaving very few commuters or travelers. For most people, the new coronavirus (COVID-19) causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some, it can cause more severe illness.(Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Across the nation, 16 members of the ATU have died from the virus, said Art Aguilar, president of the ATU in Los Angeles. His union represents bus operators and maintenance workers at Riverside Transit, Long Beach Transit and Sunline Transit in Palm Springs, and maintenance workers at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

“It has taken some time to get the agencies on board to make sure their operators are taken care of,” Aguilar said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the LACMTA issued an advisory recommending all transit riders wear face coverings or masks on all its buses and trains.

LA Metro is working on getting masks to bus drivers. “We have just received a large order of PPE supplies and are distributing them to our frontline employees. This includes bus operators,” Dave Sotero, LA Metro spokesman, said in an email Tuesday.

LA Metro has seen an increase in COVID-19 cases in the past week, according to information on its website. As of Tuesday, the latest figures available, LA Metro reported 19 confirmed cases. Of those, 12 were employees, six were contractors and one was a vendor. This is up from 14 cases reported on April 1.

Aguilar said RTA is doing a good job getting protective equipment to drivers. But he called LA Metro “reactive, not pro-active.” He added: “I would give every transit agency an ‘F’ for failing: They have not done their part to be ready.”

Aguilar agreed with LA Metro, however, that the buses and trains should keep rolling especially because they serve essential workers.

“We are advising riders that our public transit system is for essential activities only,” Sotero wrote. “Metro is still carrying 300,000 people per day. That’s how many people rely on our service.”

Here’s how these other transit agencies are trying to prevent the spread of the virus on buses:

Omnitrans

The San Bernardino County transit agency is issuing gloves, masks and sanitizers to bus drivers, a process that should be complete by the end of the week, said spokesperson Nicole Ramos.

While no Omnitrans employees have tested positive for COVID-19, one driver of an ACCESS vehicle for disabled passengers who works for subcontractor MV Transportation has tested positive after being exposed outside of work, Ramos said.

The agency learned of the positive test on Friday and has contacted employees and customers with whom the operator had been in contact. The operator is seeking treatment but has not been hospitalized, she said.

Omnitrans has 450 bus operators. Its ridership is down 65% and it will be reducing service further on Monday, April 13, she said.

Foothill Transit

The agency that operates in the San Gabriel Valley, Los Angeles and western San Bernardino County received 1,000 masks from BYD, the maker of its new electric buses, said spokesperson Felicia Friesema on Wednesday. Three employees from its Pomona yard were tested for COVID-19: one came back negative and two are pending, she said.

“This is the one time you’ll hear me say fewer people on board is a good thing. We are encouraging people to stay home and only ride if you are out for essential work,” she said. Rear-door boarding has been in effect for more than a week and fares are not being collected. Ridership is down about 75%, she said.

The agency has 40% of its bus service available, most on a Sunday bus schedule seven days a week. The agency is requiring bus drivers 65 years or older or those with underlying health issues to go on leave, the agency reported. Passengers must board buses through the rear doors and only those passengers who need to use the bus-boarding ramp should use the front door, OCTA spokesman Eric Carpenter said in an email.

The agency promotes social distancing on the bus and requires rear-door boarding except for those who need extra assistance. Also, all bus operators have been given gloves and the drivers’ union has provided masks to operators, said Michael Gold, spokesman. No cases of COVID-19 have been reported, he said. Buses operate on a reduced schedule, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Steve Scauzillo covers environment, public health and transportation for the Southern California News Group. He has won two journalist of the year awards from the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club and is a recipient of the Aldo Leopold Award for Distinguished Editorial Writing on environmental issues. Steve studied biology/chemistry when attending East Meadow High School and Nassau College in New York (he actually loved botany!) and then majored in social ecology at UCI until switching to journalism. He also earned a master's degree in media from Cal State Fullerton. He has been an adjunct professor since 2005. Steve likes to take the train, subway and bicycle – sometimes all three – to assignments and the newsroom. He has two grown sons, Andy and Matthew. Steve recently watched all of “Star Trek” the remastered original season one on Amazon, so he has an inner nerd.

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